Judge reveals Cohen inquiry remains active
NEW YORK — A judge confirmed in a court filing Thursday that federal prosecutors in New York are still investigating campaign finance crimes committed when President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid two women to stay silent about alleged affairs with Trump.
U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III made the disclosure as he agreed to release in several weeks some court documents related to the search warrant that authorized last April’s FBI raids on Cohen’s home and office. Media organizations had requested access to the records.
Pauley said some documents should stay secret because making them public could jeopardize aspects of its investigation, “including those pertaining to or arising from Cohen’s campaign finance crimes.”
In December, Pauley sentenced Cohen to three years in prison for crimes including tax evasion, fraud, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations that occurred when two women were paid to stay silent about affairs they said they had with Trump.
The judge authorized disclosure of portions of materials related to Cohen’s tax evasion and false statements to financial institutions charges and Cohen’s conduct that did not result in criminal charges.
Nine media organizations cited high public interest and a right to access in requesting the records.
The judge gave prosecutors until the end of the month to identify portions of the documents that should stay secret.
Prosecutors through a spokesman declined comment.
In his decision, Pauley made revelations about the search warrants as he explained his reasoning on why only some search warrant materials can be released and only with redactions.
The judge said prosecutors opposed the media requests, saying disclosure “would jeopardize an ongoing investigation and prejudice the privacy rights of uncharged third parties.”
He said they provided the search warrant materials for the judge to privately review.